While keeping up with Colbert's antics (surprisingly well we may add), Krugman managed to get in a word or two about his new book, "End This Depression Now." Turns out his solution to 'ending this depression now' is actually pretty simple:

"The solution, ending this depression right now, could be quite easy. If we could just rehire those teachers, firefighters and police officers who had been laid off in the last several years, layed off because of budget cuts, because congress won't allow aid to stay in local governments, we'd be a long way towards getting out of this, we'd have an unemployment rate below seven percent, this wouldn't feel at all like it does now."

Then there's the one percent, of which Krugman and Colbert are both a part. How to get in there? "A lot of it is just plain luck," Krugman explains.

After doing a "secret one percent handshake," conversation moved to Europe. And if you read Krugman, you probably can guess what he said:

"Europe is in big trouble. They made a terrible mistake which is one currency without one government and they've compounded that by using a lot of the wrong policies."